Religion And Politics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Religion And Politics - Research Paper Example These are the fundamentals questions of this study. In addressing the research questions, we will use the method of case study. The study will focus on the Islamic Republic of Iran because it is currently the most vocal Islamic Republic against the western world. In doing the study, we shall be using the most recent works of authors considered authoritative on the subject. In this study, we shall use peer-reviewed journal articles. We expect that the use of academic journals provide adequate quality control for our sources of insights and data. However, we also use the work of Sial (2006) because even if Sial (2006) is not a journal article, the work can be considered as authoritative because it is a study of the Iranian legal or political system from the point of view of an outstanding lawyer and can be considered as â€Å"authoritative†. In this study, the key conclusion we make is that in Islamic Republics, religion plays a very important role in politics. Alamdari (2005, p. 1285) described the earlier political system in Iran as a â€Å"religious populist regime, a tyranny of the majority under the charismatic leadership† of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Had Iran’s war with Iraq (1981-1988) did not take place, Alamdari argued that Islamic populism could have ended more quickly after the 1979 Islamic Iranian revolution (Alamdari, 2005, p. 1286). The constitution adopted right after the 1979 Islamic revolution known as the Qanun-e Asasi established the Islamic Republic of Iran (Sial, 2006). The principle of velayat-e faqih (guardianship of the jurist) performs a key role in the government structure of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Sial, 2006). According to Sial (2006), a national referendum in December 1979 approved the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The 1979 national referendum asked Iranians at least 16 years old whether they want to abolish the monarchy and replace the monarchy with an Islamic Republic (S ial, 2006). The 1979